Surrendered and Landed at Pasrur on 3rd September, 1965
On 3 September, 1965 two F-104s, flown by Flt. Lt. Hakimullah and Flg. Off. Abbas Mirza, were scrambled from Sargodha to intercept four Indian Gnats. During the ensuing combat, one gnat, that had strayed away from its main formation, being unable to combat the F-104s, surrendered and force-landed at an abandoned airfield at Pasrur near Sialkot. Flt Lt Hakimullah circled overhead until the capture of the aircraft and the pilot was assured by Pakistani troops. The pilot of the captured Gnat was Sqn. Ldr. Brij Pal Singh, who later rose to be an air marshal in the IAF. This aircraft was then ferried from Pasrur to Sargodha by Flt Lt Saad Hatmi.
Gnat is a single seat fighter manufactured by a British company Folland Aircraft in 1955.
It was also manufactured in India by Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd. This agile fighter was inducted Indian Air Force in 1959. It had one Rolls Royce engine (Orpheus 701) with a thrust of 4520 lbs. It could climb to a height of 50,000 feet.
It had two 30mm built in cannons. Gant could carry two 500 lbs bombs or eighteen 3 inch Rockets under its wing.
